


In Which Edward Elric Finds a Corpse

by Spud_Ladybug



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Gen, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Parental Roy Mustang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:28:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29192310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spud_Ladybug/pseuds/Spud_Ladybug
Summary: After the Homunculi catch on to how much power and influence Mustang is getting, Edward finds something that will shake him to his core.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

Ed shouldn’t have turned in his report today. He could have done it late, the bastard would gripe about it but it wouldn’t have any real negative affect on him. 

But screw it all, he felt like he did a good job on this assignment this time around, so he wanted to top it off with turning it in early. Maybe he was excited for the possibility that he would get that rare proud smile from the Colonel, but he was never going to admit that to anyone ever, least of all himself.

And so, the Fullmetal Alchemist found himself walking into central command at the beginning of the work day. He wasn’t all that surprised to be met with an empty office, it wasn’t like anybody had to be here yet, office hours had just started.

The teen worked his way to Mustang’s office in the back. He could see a light on inside, so he figured that Mustang was in his office already. As per usual, Ed kicked open the Colonel’s door with his metal leg.

“Hey Bastard! I’ve got a report for you! Guess what? It’s early for once!” Ed looks around. There’s no response, and he can’t see the Colonel anywhere. Weird. 

Something smelled familiar. A metallic smell, where would he remember that from?

“Mustang? Are you in here?” He walked around, trying to see if hemissed something.

His boot hit something hard. Edward bends down to pick it up.

“A gun?” It looked like one of Hawkeye’s, but she would never just leave a gun lying on the ground. Right? This was really strange.

“Bastard, I swear if this is some kind of prank...”

After standing up from picking up the gun, Edward’s next step landed in something wet.

“Did somebody spill a drink?” This was definitely not a drink. The metallic smell was so strong now...it was overwhelming. He recognized the smell now. That smell, it was...

“Blood...” Ed’s gaze trailed the blood leading to the man that Ed had been looking for this entire time.

“Aaaaaah!” Ed couldn’t hold it in. The sight was so shocking and horrifying that he couldn’t stem the involuntary scream that erupted from his throat. What the hell...

“What the hell?” Was he having a nightmare? It had to be.

“This isn’t real. There’s no way this can be real. Why would Mustang even do this? Everything was normal just a few hours ago...” He couldn’t believe what his eyes were showing him. It was a body, but this time...it was Roy Mustang’s body. Limp and lifeless, blood still leaving sluggishly from a bullet to the man’s heart. His skin was gray, not unlike his faded eyes that were starting to resemble clouded glass. Blood stained the Colonel’s clothing and hands.

Ed suppresses the urge to vomit. Just a few days ago he was in this very office, sharing jabs and taunts with the very man that now lied dead on the floor. 

The young alchemist was starting to lose himself in his thoughts. Why would Mustang do this? How could Ed have been so helpless? What did he do wrong? 

Ishval. That could have been it. Ed should have known, those kinds of feelings, that guilt and trauma could stick. What was to say that one more reminder of his mistakes could push the military officer over the edge?

His thoughts kept telling him all the ways he could have stopped this from happening. If he had just noticed the signs, stayed in Central longer, be a little nicer...wait. Ed remembered something he said last week. ‘You’re wrong! I won’t have to kill anyone! I’m not going to be a murderer like you!’ He remembered how even Mustang, known for being able to reign in his emotions, had shown guilt and hurt on his face.

Was that what pushed him over the edge? Was this...all Ed’s fault? Why was he so impulsive to make that comment? This was all his fault. Screw the report. Edward just...lost another person he cared about. The grief hit him like a truck. Roy was gone forever now. Ed wouldn’t be able to bring him back. This wasn’t some story where he could re-write the pages. He had one path, and he wasn’t good enough. Now he would carry this guilt with him until he died.

And now, he could never take it back. Never. Never, never...


	2. Riza Hawkeye Speaking

Of all the things Riza Hawkeye expected this morning, a call from a crying Edward Elric was not one of them. It was so jarring to hear, Riza almost dropped the phone. What had happened?

Had he gotten into a bad argument with Roy? She had left the Colonel to stay overtime yesterday to finish some paperwork, did that put the man in enough of a bad mood for him to get in a truly fierce argument with the boy?

But...the way Ed hadn’t even been able to compose his words yet...that led her to the conclusion that it was something much worse. 

Finally, the boy was able to speak coherently.  
“H-Hawkeye...p-please come to the office...please...I need help!”  
“Edward, please...I need you to calm down and tell me what’s wrong, alright? Deep breaths.” She hears a deep inhale and exhale over the phone.

“Please...it’s the Colonel...I-I...he’s...I’m so sorry!” Riza froze at that. What was going on? She had a terrible feeling about this.  
“Just stay there, alright Edward? And remember to take deep breaths.”  
“R-right...”

Riza swiftly hung up the phone and went to get into her car. Dread knotted in her gut as she started driving. What was she heading into?


	3. Disbelief

Riza...couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She didn’t want to. If she was to accept this reality, that would also mean accepting her failure.

How could she let this happen? She and Roy would always update each other on their mental health at the moment, so... why hadn’t her Colonel told her what he was feeling?Why...why was she seeing Edward crying over his dead body?

Riza’s legs couldn’t hold her up any longer. She fell to her knees beside Ed, tears she failed to stop rolling down her cheeks. Ed looked up in surprise at the Lieutenant’s stifled sob. He had never seen her cry before. 

“I found him this morning when I came in for my report...I’m sorry Lieutenant...maybe if I had come in sooner...”  
“Don’t be sorry Edward...if anything, I should have been able to see the signs.” 

She shakes her head a bit.  
“Well, I suppose it’s no use thinking about what could have been... I’m going to call the medics. It’s too late to do anything, but we’ll need help cleaning up.” 

Ed shudders. He still wasn’t ready to accept that this was the Colonel’s corpse. Wasn’t ready to accept that he was dead. The man always seemed so strong and untouchable. Someone Ed even begrudgingly looked up to.

That’s why Ed still couldn’t believe the man had...had...killed himself. It didn’t seem right. Mustang had always seemed so durable of heart and mind. It was hard to accept that someone so powerful had lost himself to such and illness.

Yet Hawkeye’s cold acceptance drove the reality of the situation deep into his heart. As the woman stepped away from her superior’s body, Ed carefully approached her. 

To his surprise, she suddenly pulled him into a tight embrace, holding onto him like he would disappear. Edward was too shocked to do anything at first, but then he figured that she needed this, so he wrapped his arms around her and pulled himself closer. And for the next few minutes, they were fine to simply be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. At least there’s hugging?


	4. You Are Dead

“Major Mustang! Can you hear me Major?” Roy groaned and attempted to open his eyes, squinting at the bright light. What was going on? The last thing he remembered was going to a meeting with the Fuhrer...

“Thank goodness you’re awake...” Roy looked up into a familiar face as his eyes adjusted.  
“Tim...Marcoh? Didn’t you go into hiding? Where are we?”  
“These strange people took me prisoner from the town I was hiding in. I believe this is their hideout.”

Strange...people? Roy was slightly confused.  
“Marcoh...you don’t have to call me Major anymore. If we’re going to be stuck with each other for a while, you might as well call me Roy.”

Marcoh nods.  
“Sounds fair. Now...I must warn against standing up against them...trust me, I’ve tried. They’re...inhuman Roy.”

Just as he said that, two of the ‘inhuman people’ walked in. One was an admittedly gorgeous looking woman with dark, flowing hair, the other, sporting far more ugly hair, and a thin wiry figure.

They looked very familiar...Fullmetal’s drawings from laboratory 5! He remembered pinning them up on a cork board, grinning wide at how silly and childish they looked.

How Roy wished he was dealing with something so simple and trivial now...he looked back up at the strangers. If they were from Fullmetal’s drawings, then that meant...his eyes widened. So they were homunculi? 

“Hmmm, does he recognize us or something?”The thin one said.  
“He shouldn’t. Unless the Fullmetal brat squealed.” The other replied.  
“Ahh, should have seen that coming really. I guess it’s good we got him out of the picture soon than later, huh?” The one with the strange hair jabbed a finger in his direction.

“Out of the picture?” He breathed out.  
The thin one walked up close, smiling wickedly.  
“Oh yeah, I guess you don’t know yet, huh? To everyone’s knowledge, you died this morning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least he’s alive? *Nervous Laughter*


	5. Candidate

Mustang was frozen in shock. “...dead? How?”  
The woman started.  
“Well you see, our father is quite skilled at crafting bodies, so it wasn’t all that hard for him to make a fake.” 

The smaller one laughs, a sick and twisted sort of sound.  
“Edward Elric reported finding your dead body at 07:00 hours this morning, assumed cause of death being suicide.”

Damn...that was cruel but clever way of doing it to avoid suspicion. Enough soldiers in the military had shell shock and trauma that suicide wasn’t uncommon.

And Fullmetal...he inwardly cursed at himself. If he was the one to find the body...had Roy inadvertently gave him even more trauma then he already had?

He shook the thought away. It was no use thinking about those kind of things now. He had to focus on figuring out what was going on, and how to escape later on.

“So? Why bother going through the effort of faking a body? Why do you need me alive?”

The women laughed, which would have been a pleasant sound if not for what she was.  
“Don’t flatter yourself. You just happen to be something we need.”  
“And what’s that?”  
“A candidate for sacrifice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi


End file.
